Sheriff’s Office Settles Lawsuit Over Forced Hijab Removal for Mugshots

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) announced Thursday that their legal team reached a settlement with the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) over the removal of a Muslim woman’s hijab for a booking photo at Mecklenburg County Detention Center Central (MCDCC). 

The deal includes a monetary settlement along with an agreement by MCSO to enact a new policy regarding religious head coverings at its facilities.

CAIR plans to hold a press conference Friday to address the case. Local attorney Ismaail Qaiyim of Queen City Community Law Firm, who joined CAIR as counsel in the lawsuit, has said the case underscores broader struggles for free speech, due process and human rights.

CAIR filed a lawsuit against MCSO on behalf of Laila El-Ali, who was arrested last year for violating a noise ordinance and impeding traffic, charges that were later dropped, in connection with her protest activity as part of pro-Palestine community organizing. 

Upon intake at the MCDCC, El-Ali was forced to remove her hijab for a booking photo. The photo then remained publicly available on the MCSO website after being brought to the department’s attention, according to a release from CAIR.

CAIR, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, filed its lawsuit at the time with the goal of having El-Ali’s photo removed from MCSO’s website and deleted from the department’s files while also demanding that MCSO implement policy changes to prevent officers and staff from taking photos of women without their hijabs in the future. 

“This case is about protecting the fundamental right of Muslim women to practice their faith with dignity,” said CAIR Staff Attorney Nadia Bayado. “No one should be forced to choose between their religious beliefs and compliance with law enforcement procedures. The policy changes secured here ensure that what happened to Ms. El-Ali will not happen again, and they reaffirm that constitutional rights do not stop at the jailhouse door.”

MCSO did also agree to destroy El-Ali’s picture from its database and participate in discussions with CAIR to reach agreed-upon policy changes that ensure compliance with the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, which protects the religious rights of people in institutions like MCDCC.

The main policy changes reached in the settlement require all MCSO personnel to inform those in MCDCC custody of their right to request religious head covering accommodations upon intake, allow individuals in custody to wear their religious head covering during their booking photos, and permit those in MCSO custody to wear the religious head coverings they brought with them throughout the facility unless safety or security concerns require temporary removal.

The new policy also includes added procedures for pat-downs and extensive searches while also requiring MCSO personnel to document any instance in which a religious head covering is removed, the reason for removal, the name of the officer(s) involved and the duration of the removal.

CAIR said that while El-Ali is proud of the policy changes that resulted from the suit, she would like to call attention to the fact she believes her arrest was part of a nationwide pattern of political repression and anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian sentiment.

Prior to her arrest, Palestinian Muslim organizer El-Ali spoke at a city council meeting, where she expressed pro-Palestine beliefs and urged the city to divest from any ties to Israel. CAIR said her involvement in the event led to CMPD issuing a warrant for her arrest.

“This is not about one person. This is about every Palestinian, every Muslim, every organizer who refuses to stay silent while our government sends billions to fund the destruction of Gaza,” El-Ali said. “It is about reminding us that even here — in the so-called land of the free — Palestinians are being punished for demanding the right to live.”

Queen City Nerve reached out to MCSO’s public information officer for a statement from Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden, to which the spokesperson responded, “We believe [the policy] speaks for itself as we look to respectfully and lawfully accommodate religious head coverings worn by those in our custody.”

More controversy at MCSO

The lawsuit settlement comes amidst significant MCSO staffing departures and claims that Sheriff Garry McFadden is unfit for office.

Two chief deputies have resigned from MCSO in less than a year, citing McFadden as the reason for their resignation.

In Chief Deputy Christopher Allen’s Aug. 18 resignation letter, addressed to McFadden, Allen claims the sheriff created a “hostile work environment” and orchestrated ”constant backstabbing, lies, disrespect, and false narratives.”

Allen’s predecessor Chief Deputy Kevin Canty also accused McFadden of creating a toxic and abusive work environment. 

In 2022, Queen City Nerve reported on similar claims from former MCSO employees who had either left or been fired from the department. 

McFadden addressed the recent staff departures in a personal message on the department’s YouTube channel last week.

“By law, I cannot talk about personnel matters but [my executive staff] have the ability to talk about personnel matters and they have the ability to be the victim,” McFadden said. “And I’m not going to play the role of the victim, but they do have that luxury.”

McFadden said the comments made by his former employees have betrayed his loyalty and trust in his staff. 

”This is about my character, my reputation, my integrity, my loyalty, but most of all, it’s about my legacy,” he said. “I still feel betrayed and my family feels betrayed.

“You hear them saying words like ‘narcissist’ and ‘godlike,’” McFadden continued. ”What they should be saying is ‘progressive, innovative, forward-thinking, always direct and always clear, highly motivated, have high expectations, demands accountability,’ but, most of all, ‘caring.’”